CNN reported a massive drop in viewership this year, losing more than a third of its total audience. Fox News, on the other hand, is floating along nicely, only dropping about 1%. But we wanted to know how viewership looked at the ground level. What percentage of the public watches major news networks? We asked the public to find out.

As ratings predicted, Fox News came out on top. However, even more respondents shunned the entire batch. That's evidence of two things. First, the so-called "major" news networks are hardly satisfactory outlets for news. They might have the most viewers, but as with the music charts, a high rating doesn't mean high quality. Second, it suggests most people are getting their news from alternative sources, because it's unlikely all these people are just ignoring world events completely. They're just sick of the major outlets. One commenter put it best: "If I want to hear nothing but lies, I'll talk to my ex wife."

Conservatives Back Fox

Naturally, all of these stations deny these claims of bias. Whether or not that's true is really a matter of opinion, but what is clear is that their viewers do lean. 77% of conservatives voted Fox, compared to 0% of liberals and progressives; 31% of liberals watch CNN or MSNBC, compared to 2% of conservatives. The vast majority of moderates (72%) avoid the major news channels all together.

The Internet Age

The reason "none of the above" was such a popular choice was clear in the age breakdown: People under 35 don't watch the news. Below that age, the difference in support between major networks was negligible. About two-thirds of them refused to pick one. And we think the reason for this is pretty obvious, too. Do they really expect us to wait 'til 11 when we could just check our personalized feed?

Alternative Sources

Simply saying that "the Internet" is an alternative source of news isn't specific enough. We wanted to see what other people were watching specifically. A quick glance through the comments revealed: YouTube, The Onion, Al Jazeera, C-SPAN, local news, college radio, The Weather Channel, and there were even a few hits for The History Channel.

If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit our poll on major news networks. We'd love to hear from you!

The Fox station in My Local area only. Red Ted Turner is an idiot,or Hanoi Jane neutered the poor B@$TARD !

]]>jere.chievresnerak611: I don't watch Fox News. I either catch the local news, on NBC, C-Span, or get it off the internet.http://www.sodahead.com/question/2759589/comment/98148849/2012-11-17T23:04:07ZI don't watch Fox News. I either catch the local news, on NBC, C-Span, or get it off the internet.nerak611

I don't watch Fox News. I either catch the local news, on NBC, C-Span, or get it off the internet.

]]>boo63mac9: FOX news is reliable. You get the real deal there hence the success.http://www.sodahead.com/question/2759589/comment/93014767/2012-09-07T15:50:21ZFOX news is reliable. You get the real deal there hence the success.mac9

FOX news is reliable. You get the real deal there hence the success.

]]>mac9nickasatourian: American news? Please! Fox is ran by Jews. CNN is ran by Jews. NBC, ABC CBS, BBC, CBC, all ran b...http://www.sodahead.com/question/2759589/comment/91895345/2012-08-22T17:17:18ZAmerican news? Please! Fox is ran by Jews. CNN is ran by Jews. NBC, ABC CBS, BBC, CBC, all ran by Jews. Now, Al Jazeera is ran by Jewish CNN too. It was once the best news source on earth. Exposin...nickasatourian

American news? Please! Fox is ran by Jews. CNN is ran by Jews. NBC, ABC CBS, BBC, CBC, all ran by Jews. Now, Al Jazeera is ran by Jewish CNN too. It was once the best news source on earth. Exposing American war crimes, Jewry and corruption. The only real source of news left is RT and LaRouche. RT has become phenomenal. On iPad, iPhone, and Roku and its owned by the Russian State. NOT FOR SALE! RT= WIN!

]]>nickasatourianFredrick House: I want to know something about the demographics of the so called "undecided 10% of voters for th...http://www.sodahead.com/question/2759589/comment/90828793/2012-08-07T23:07:42ZI want to know something about the demographics of the so called "undecided 10% of voters for the 2012 General Election. No doubt they will decide the Election.Fredrick House

I want to know something about the demographics of the so called "undecided 10% of voters for the 2012 General Election. No doubt they will decide the Election.

]]>Fredrick Housejoan`: I watched Hardball the other night. Chris Matthews came out and said Bill and Hilary will run as...http://www.sodahead.com/question/2759589/comment/90342865/2012-08-01T16:03:31ZI watched Hardball the other night. Chris Matthews came out and said Bill and Hilary will run as a team.joan`

I watched Hardball the other night. Chris Matthews came out and said Bill and Hilary will run as a team.